


For the Birds

by AngelOfDeath10



Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Humor, Poor Life Choices, Romance, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-20 22:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21064130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelOfDeath10/pseuds/AngelOfDeath10
Summary: Kaoru finds herself at a loose end before a major heart-themed holiday and appeals to Enishi to help her figure out what it is she actually wants. Major life decisions are best made in saner moments by saner people. Possibly also comedy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Characters are not mine! If they were, RK canon would be very different.
> 
> Originally written in 2015.

It was the kind of place you wouldn't want to bring a blacklight if you planned on staying there a while. Kaoru halted in the doorway, seething emotions overcome by a distinct uneasy feeling, but when a frigid wind blew up the back of her coat and up her dress she instinctively let the door close behind her. At that point she was in for a penny so she walked over to the nearly empty bar and stood there staring at the "specials." It was all beer, mostly foreign, with what she assumed were the names in Chinese next to the English translations. The mirror behind the bottles was smudged to the point that her own reflection seemed distorted. She wasn't about to let it phase her.

"Do you have olives?" she asked the bartender who was eyeing her with uncertainty. She was the anachronism here. He nodded slowly and she wondered how much English he knew. "Do you have vodka?"

"What do you think this is, lady? Of course we do."

"Then I'll have a vodka martini." Kaoru, giving up the ghost, sat down on the questionably flaking and clearly rusting metal stool while shrugging off her coat. Outside might have been a freezing fog that clung to her skin, but inside this dive it was roasting in comparison. Her carefully curled hair was now frizzy and limp from the humidity and wind, so she pulled a hair band from her purse and pulled it behind her in a careless ponytail.

The drink arrived in front of her as soon as her hands fell from her makeshift hairdressing efforts. "Start a tab." Kaoru said, letting her mood drift even darker as she mock saluted the bartender with the drink and took a sip.

Surprisingly, the burn that made its way down her throat was smooth. This wasn't the rotten cheap stuff she had used for mix drinks in college, and it was a nice surprise compared to her expectations. It would probably be the first time tonight her expectations had been exceeded. Noting the bright lipstick stain on the side of her glass, Kaoru wiped the back of her hand across her lips. A smear of peachy pink came away and she used a bar napkin to rub it off her hand.

The tears wanted to come again, so instead she fought them with rage. Kaoru's hands bunched the fabric of her blush biased-cut dress in her lap. Tonight was supposed to be special; tonight she was expecting flowers and chocolates or maybe a piece of jewelry. She had even left work an hour early to beat traffic and get ready, only to find herself here in this seedy bar in Chinatown at what would normally have been her bed time on a Wednesday. Between the alcohol and her rage she didn't feel cold in the least, and she basked in that glow for a moment. Anger felt much better than sadness.

"Hey, looks like you need some company." The man who sat next to her, breaking her brooding thoughts, looked like he might have been almost handsome once but hard living and a network of burn scars over his left cheek gave him a sinister look. Kaoru felt her hackles rise immediately. This guy was bad news in an expensive looking suit.

"That seat is saved." She said, darkly.

"Oh yeah? For who?" The man smiled at her and she thought of oil tankers spilling toxic slicks on helpless sea life.

"My coat." Kaoru said firmly and turned her shoulder to him. He looked dangerous, but with the night she had had she didn't even care anymore. That she had to deal with some jerk hitting on her in a nearly empty bar was a cherry on this horrible day.

Her response was obviously not what the man was expecting because she almost felt his anger behind her. "If I had known you'd be a bitch then I'd have just cut to the chase and offered you money up front. Talking to women like they're people is so useless."

Anger management had not always been a strong suit for Kaoru. All evening she'd been taking deep breaths, thinking logically, trying to put aside all the toxic feelings that made her desire to club reality into the shape she wanted it to be. Eventually, she knew she'd hit a flash point, but she was just as shocked as the man when she swiveled around on her stool and planted her fist in his face. He was lucky she hadn't put on any rings that evening.

Kaoru was still wearing her shocked expression as she watched the man lose balance on the stool and hit the filthy floor. The bartender had backed away to a corner and refused to meet her eyes, which was the first way she knew she was in trouble. The second way was when she saw the man reach into his coat the way people did in movies before they took out a weapon, sputtering incoherent threats. The apoplectic anger in his face melted as he looked over her shoulder and his hands fell to his sides as he stood up and brushed himself off.

A hand on her shoulder sent a shock through Kaoru all the way to her toes, and it was only the firm clamp she had on her jaw that kept the surprised yelp from forming.

"Gein." The low masculine voice behind her spoke the name as a warning and the other man kept his distance as his furious eyes darted from her to the owner of the hand on her shoulder.

"But what do you care?! She's just some uppity bitch slumming it in our-" Obviously there was something more to this than she thought.

"Shut it." The voice was terse, commanding. The man named Gein did as he was told, waiting. "Now find someplace else to be for a while." Cursing audibly under his breath, Kaoru didn't allow herself to breathe normally until her aggressor had stormed out into the cold. Only two or three patrons were left in the establishment, and if they hadn't turned to watch the free show then Kaoru assumed she was truly on her own in every sense of the word.

The hand left her shoulder, but his presence remained, and Kaoru finally turned towards him unsure if she should thank him or ignore the whole situation. The bartender had moved out of the corner and was pouring whiskey into a glass for the man standing there. White hair should have implied aged, but his skin was smooth and he didn't look any older than Kaoru who was easing into her mid-twenties with less grace than she had hoped judging from this incident.

"I'd offer to buy you a drink, but I'm not sure you're the kind of woman who would accept it." He turned to her with a smirk playing on his lips, and Kaoru tried to decipher if his eyes were blue or green with no success. Fussy round glasses perched at the edge of his nose, and were at odds with the fact that he was so obviously muscular even a suit wasn't hiding it. Nothing about him made sense, so she took another drink of her martini.

That was going to be the end of it, she saw. He picked up his drink and began to move back to the table in the corner he had started out in before she had brought dramatic life to this place, but Kaoru felt the words tear out of her in a breathy cloud of vodka.

"I wouldn't accept a drink but there's a pool table over there."

"Is that an invitation?" He stopped and turned to her with an eyebrow arched.

"It's an observation." Kaoru said, feeling less brave than she was presenting.

***

The first game was played in silence. Kaoru continued to sip her drink, and at some point when she was thoughtfully chewing on her olive another one appeared with two olives instead of one and the glass seemed much cleaner than the first. The man dominated the game, those strange eyes of his seeing every shot with geometric precision. No tricks, no fancy moves, no taunts, just ball after ball sinking solidly into the pocket. Kaoru was glad she hadn't bet anything on it. Several more games passed in the same fashion before she felt compelled to say something.

As the 8-ball disappeared in the side pocket she let some of her rueful admiration show. "Where did you learn to play like that?"

"It's just a matter of practice and observation." He replied to her like that was the only answer.

"So I can do that too?"

He evaluated her, eyes sweeping her from head to toe as if assessing her capability. The coldness of his stare annoyed her. Straightening her shoulders, she met his judgment defiantly.

"Potentially." He racked up the balls and as he deftly arranged them, she wondered why everyone underestimated her these days. "I won so it's your break."

Kaoru hit the balls so hard they scattered everywhere chaotically. It felt good to cause some chaos, and she looked over to the man with a fiery glare. "I will show you my potential then. And if I win then you can cover my tab."

"I offered to anyway." His body language was dismissive, but he took a step towards her and eyed the table with some interest. The jacket he had been wearing he tossed over a chair, and rolled up his sleeves. There was a hint of a tattoo at his elbow and Kaoru felt a twinge of worry, natural warning bells telling her the put the pieces together. Something about this man in this bar at this time of night didn't seem natural.

"But now it's on my terms." Kaoru thought in flashes about earlier that night, sitting at a table watching a candle melt while one of her favorite meals turned cold and gelatinous in front of her. Kenshin was long gone and he had closed the door so firmly in her face she didn't have any choice left but to wallow or move on. Well, she may not be in control of her heart, but she was in control of this moment.

While Kaoru concentrated fully on each shot, mind only starting to swim on a belly full of vodka and olives, she watched the white haired man stalk the shadows and examine the table. Daringly, Kaoru made sure to lean forward as he was across from her, seeing if he'd look, and oddly impressed when he did not. She had never been a flirt, but this man's remoteness was making her feel safe even as the alcohol made her feel daring. Sweet, that's what Kenshin had called her, sweet and pure and too good for him. She hadn't asked him to be anything, he had made all the assumptions on his own about her and what she needed.

"Are you going to take the shot or not?"

Kaoru realized she had fallen into her own mind again, and ended her streak with a scratch as she came back to reality too addled to keep her head in the game. She figured she was in trouble when he placed the ball immediately, no thought required as his game plan unfolded.

"You see the shots," The man said as he barely looked at the table and sank his first ball. "And you have a steady hand, but you're not staying focused. I thought you wanted to compete."

Kaoru wanted to make excuses, wanted this man to understand why she wasn't herself today. "It's been a rough day."

"Let me guess," He sank another ball and then leaned on the table briefly while he removed his glasses and began to clear the lenses of grit. "You're dressed for a date. Conservative, so I'd guess he's older than you. No ring, so boyfriend then. Either cheating or he dumped you, or both. Three days before Valentine's Day no less. What a hardship." His sarcasm was clear.

"You don't understand." She felt mocked now in addition to hurt. "All those years, I waited. I was patient, I was understanding, and still I lost to a memory. Have you ever waited years for something only to have it turn to ash in front of you?" If Tomoe had still been flesh and blood then she would have had flaws, and maybe Kaoru in comparison would seem different or better. While Tomoe was dead she was practically saintly and Kaoru would lose to her every time. "I'm allowed to mourn without being made fun of."

Replacing his glasses on his face he regarded her carefully. "I might know something about that."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a game to win and a drink to finish." It was entirely possible the two were mutually exclusive, but Kaoru wanted it all tonight.

It was entirely unsurprising, however, when she got no second turn as he finished his turn eventually by winning the game. She mumbled something about him sharking her and he escorted her over to his booth before she challenged him to yet another doomed game. While he went to go get their drinks from by the pool table she took the blatant opportunity to admire the fit of his suit pants. Kenshin wasn't the only man in the world, and she didn't need to pretend like he was anymore. A part of her mind screamed betrayal, and clung to the what ifs that Kenshin had already told her were never going to happen. Before she knew it the white haired man folded into the booth across from her.

"You're pretty handsome." The man froze mid-drink and watched her as she mumbled and tore up a napkin in strips. "Whenever I meet a handsome guy he always brings trouble with him. My friend Tai thinks I'm so lucky, like handsome men rain down from heaven and into my life, but they always want something. I'm such a sucker I help them every time."

"Are you asking me what I want?" He put his whiskey down which was largely melted ice at this point, and tented his fingers. Kaoru was nursing her third drink and he was still on his second (that she had seen anyway). She didn't want to be insensibly drunk and she didn't want to close out the bar with this guy, but for some reason she also didn't want to leave. Flickering fluorescent lights, dirty green seats, acrid smell and all—it matched how she felt inside.

Kaoru placed her head in her hand and let her elbow support both her and her disappointment. "No offense, but for once I don't really care what someone else wants." She felt guilty saying it out loud, like she was violating some law of the universe. Where was it written in stone that she always had to think about others at the expense of herself?

"Then what do _you_ want?" The man leaned back, lazily waiting for her response. The hint of a smile played at the corner of his mouth and she wondered if he was enjoying this.

Kaoru thought about it, seriously. What did she even want? The default answer for the past five years had been 'Kenshin' but now that that wasn't an option she was drawing a blank. Kaoru was unaccountably dismayed at herself for having no answer to that question. Her pensive face turned to the window like it contained an answer. Outside it was still foggy, light from the streetlamps diffusing and making her feel like nothing existed beyond this bar. If all she could be certain of was the here and now then maybe she needed to start small with her own demands from life.

"I want to not be alone on Valentine's Day."

The man picked up his glass only to slump back again, drinking his water and whiskey and narrowing his eyes at her in a considering fashion. "Like a date?"

"I don't know. You asked me what I want. I don't want to be that sad sack crying through bad tv movies because of a guy. I want to have a meal, I want chocolate, and I want to feel like I'm worth a damn to myself."

There was silence between them and Kaoru shoved her shredded napkin bits to the side. How dumb this guy must think she was. How pitiful and desperate she seemed. It was a bad idea and there was no way he would consider it.

"I'm calling you a cab." He pulled out an expensive looking phone from his pocket and dialed. Placing his hand over the receiver his asked her, "Do you have a pen? Write down your address." He shoved the rigid bar napkin with the ring from his glass still damp at her as he continued to talk to the cab company.

Kaoru was pleased that she only tore a few places writing it down. Wet paper never made the best writing surface. "Kaoru Kamiya." He read at the top once he was off the phone.

"That's me. I have business cards too, but I don't carry them because it's embarrassing. It's just Human Resources, I don't go to many external meetings." It occurred to her he hadn't read anything out to the cab company from what she had passed him. Her mind was fuzzy enough that she only just realized the implications of that.

"Enishi Yukishiro." He folded the napkin and placed it in his pocket before picking the olive spear out of her empty glass and eating it while she stared at him with what was no doubt a dumb look of surprise. "I'll pick you up Saturday at eight or not at all. If I'm not there by eight just forget we ever met."

Sputtering, unsure of how they got to this point, Kaoru said the only thing that she could think of.

"Why?!"

Enishi signaled to the bartender who nodded and poured a whiskey out at the bar. "Maybe you remind me of someone…" was all he supplied.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's not _that_ funny." Kaoru watched Megumi clutch her sides as her laughter faded enough for the woman to talk again. People in the break room were openly staring and Kaoru felt deeply uncomfortable with their attention while Megumi, as usual, didn't care a whit. Two people waiting by the microwave whispered to one another and Kaoru did not relish the office gossip that would probably follow her shortly.

"So, let me get this straight," She had already clarified it once but rubbing salt in a wound was one of her finer qualities. "You went _alone_ to Chinatown in the middle of the night, almost got shot, and then picked up a stranger? Classic!"

Misao would have been sympathetic, not mocking, and Kaoru wished her friend worked in her building downtown. "You make it sound worse than it is."

Calming down, wiping tears of mirth from the corners of her eyes, Megumi stabbed her chicken salad with a fork before responding. "Let's run this down, shall we, never mind that you're probably emotionally vulnerable and possibly self-destructive since your dinner with Kenshin,"

"Hey now!"

"You placed yourself in an obviously dangerous place in the middle of a tong neighborhood, proceeded to get drunk by yourself, made what is no doubt a gangster angry and then proceeded to pick up his friend." When she said it like that it sounded pretty bad, admittedly.

Kaoru found she didn't want to eat any of her sandwich, instead poking at where the tuna was starting to make the bread soggy in the middle. "He might not be a gangster…" Megumi was right, he probably was, but she didn't want to admit it out loud yet.

"And I have to laugh because otherwise I would be deeply concerned that you not only gave him your home address, but also admitted you live alone and work all day." Megumi brushed a strand of her long hair behind her back and poked Kaoru somewhat sharply with her fork. Kaoru yelped and rubbed her arm. "If your apartment isn't cleaned out when you get home then count yourself lucky."

Chewing absently on a nail, a bad habit from childhood she never truly kicked, Kaoru wondered how much of that was Megumi trying to scare her and how much of it was real risk. Her building was secure, but then she had seen plenty of people get in because their friend 'wasn't answering the buzzer.' Until now she hadn't thought much about it.

"So this guy must have been hotter than the sun if he distracted you from Kenshin."

"Megumi!" Kaoru tried to sound scandalized.

"So tell me, what is the description you'll give to the police when all your stuff is gone?"

"Ugh, come on, stop it." Kaoru saw her friend's sly smile and wondered just how much she was loving this, in a way. When they had both first met Kenshin years ago, Megumi had made it no secret she thought he was attractive and made her usual aggressive play to date him. Kaoru with her bumbling shyness had somehow gotten her foot in the door, though significantly she couldn't say it ever got much farther than that, and Megumi had been occasionally projecting doom for the two of them since. Now that it had happened and Kaoru's weird tentative relationship with Kenshin was in tatters, she was the first one wanting to be there for Kaoru in her own way, and it made up for a lot of those annoying jealous comments.

"No really, at least let me know what he looks like." Megumi pushed Kaoru's sandwich closer to her as well, wordlessly telling her to eat something. "He like Kenshin? Short, cute, gentle, likeable? That's your type, after all."

Kaoru wondered if this was like being mothered. She had no basis for comparison on that front. "I don't have a type."

That was greeted with a snort. "Oh please, your track record would say otherwise. In college—"

"Let's not talk about that!" Kaoru did not want to revisit her mistakes when the current one was dire enough. "Besides you're one to talk, you're still stringing Sano along. He's a nice guy, and plenty cute and likeable."

"And forgetful, and bad with money, with a spotty employment history. He needs to shape up a little more before I promise him anything." Megumi chewed some more chicken before admonishing Kaoru. "Now enough with the misdirection, what's he look like?"

There was a reason Megumi worked in the legal department, she was absolutely tenacious. "Not like Kenshin, for one: tall, white hair, glasses, muscular."

"That doesn't sound too bad, but is he that much older?"

"Not old, he just had white hair. That can happen to people when they're young, or maybe he bleaches it." Kaoru finally took a bite of her lunch, feeling it move down her dry throat slowly. Nothing was appetizing after that dinner with Kenshin. "He didn't talk much."

During the lull in conversation that followed Megumi efficiently ate while Kaoru thought about how confusing her life had become. Last night she was sure that she was headed for maybe a couple of kids and a house in the suburbs where Kenshin could establish himself with his speech therapy business. Even if it had been far away in the future it had at least seemed possible, and maybe even desirable. Today all she saw stretching in front of her was six more months of her lease, a job she just felt ok about, and a date with a probable criminal.

Oh god, she was going to be _that friend_. The one with dramatic life issues. She had never been _that friend_ before, she had always been the one comforting _that friend_.

"You know, not once have you said you're not going on this weird date." Megumi sealed her Tupperware container and slid it to the side. "You can't seriously be considering going somewhere with this man, can you?" There was no scorn in her voice, just concern.

"Well…" There was no guarantee he'd show up anyway. She hadn't exactly made the best impression and he probably thought she was a silly woman and promptly forgot all about her. "No..maybe…I don't know." Some interns walked in as a gaggle, laughing, and Kaoru seriously wanted to throw her uneaten sandwich at them for being so happy and carefree.

Megumi didn't respond, but the thin line of her lips clearly expressed her disapproval with Kaoru's indecision.

***

In retrospect it was the comment about her dressing conservatively that lingered in her mind. Kaoru couldn't even look at her blush dress from that night without a tinge of hurt so she did everything opposite of how she had prepared before. Curler was abandoned for a straight iron and after every hair was tamed she wound it all into a bun at the back of her head with the shorter strands that framed her face loose to soften the severity. Tighter and shorter was the name of the game this time around, so she opted for a loose dark purple blouse on top and one of her black skirts to complement it.

Distinctly, she remembered buying this skirt a few years ago to wear to the office but then on second thought felt like it exposed too much thigh to be work appropriate. This would not have passed dress code at her high school and she smiled at the memory of her strict homeroom teacher holding up a ruler to their hems to see if they had to be sent home or not. It was always easier to roll it up after inspection, so it hadn't prevented much of anything.

Dark lipstick and a touch of liner and blush and she was ready for anything, or so she thought. No sensible flats tonight, she pulled out the shoes she had bought with Misao weeks ago. Misao, who was terminally short in her own words, only wore heels so that she could meet people's eyes. Normally Kaoru didn't buy anything that guaranteed blisters but if she was going to do something out of character than she might as well go all the way with it. So dark red they might be confused for black, she first put a dab of petroleum jelly on the back of each heel then slipped into the shoes while noting how different everything looked already at this height.

With almost twenty minutes to spare, Kaoru sat down on the edge of her bed and tried unsuccessfully not to brood. Would it be worse if he didn't show up or if he did? Was she dressed too formally? She could always pretend she wasn't home if she didn't want to go through with it. Had she charged her phone? Her friends had all told her to check in with them tonight at some point, but how could she naturally excuse herself to the bathroom just to text Tai, Misao, and Megumi multiple times in an evening? What if Kenshin called? Did she even want him to call? Three days had been enough time to go from mad to sad and back into mad again.

When the buzzer went off, against all odds, promptly at 8 Kaoru leapt to her feet powered by adrenaline and pure worry and made her way to the intercom by her door. Despite the fact that she didn't plan on letting him come up to her apartment, let alone enter it, she looked around at the messy state of things in dismay and wondered why she had a mental block against cooking and cleaning. It wasn't like she was hoarding filth, but it was no model home either. Messy on the inside, just like her right now.

"Hello?"

"It's Yukishiro." His voice was neutral, giving nothing away.

"I'll be right down." Kaoru was afraid the tremor in her body had escaped into her words as she wrapped herself in a coat and scarf. Time to see what tonight would bring.

***

Enishi knew he would have to put up with Gein whining at him the next day, and was totally unsurprised when he started first thing on seeing him the next day. They had a meeting to attend to discuss some business with a gang in the adjoining territory where new construction of a park had blurred boundaries of who could operate in what space. The inevitable violence was escalating to the point where just passing money to the right cop to look away a few minutes wasn't going to cut it. Life was tense and he didn't need Gein's bullshit making him angry.

When the car pulled up with Gein as the driver Enishi knew he was not in for the quiet ride he'd earlier anticipated. This must be a subtle dig from his lieutenant Heishin who could easily have arranged for Otowa to drive him instead. Why Heishin would continue to try to rattle his cage made Enishi thoughtful about the future of their organization.

"…you never get involved, I don't know why I had to walk my ass out when—"

"Just forget it."

"And you saw how she was dressed, she wanted it. She would have come around and I could have had a good night if not for you."

Gein was a rat, but a useful rat, so Enishi did not immediately think of disposing him. "You can spot an undercover cop a block away but you still can't read a woman, it seems."

"I get lots of women!"

Enishi wasn't listening anymore as Gein continued to prattle, partly because Gein didn't have anything to say that Enishi wanted to hear but primarily he didn't want to think about Gein's lapse in judgment and near assault on that woman because it honestly upset him. Those migraines that came on and drove him near crazy only sparked when he thought of his family, but that girl reminded him of his sister enough that the idea of Gein pulling a gun on her was sparking the same pain.

"Shut up." He didn't say it loudly this time, but he didn't have to. Gein might have been an idiot with women but he had been around Enishi long enough to know when his boss was slipping into a dangerous mood. Music flickered into life and Gein concentrated on the road.

Completely distracted from the important meeting he would shortly be attending, Enishi reflected on just how disruptive Valentine's Day was to his organization as a whole. Built into the sworn oaths of the tong were promises to respect the women and families of the members and he hadn't thought much on it before, but even some of the most hardened men he worked with had wives or girlfriends that they attended to on this holiday. No one ever asked for time off, they weren't that sort of business, but people suddenly became unavailable or unreachable for a day or two surrounding the 14th. It seemed a useless, gaudy day to Enishi but he knew himself well enough that he was not ruling out participating in it because of that Kamiya woman.

Wanting to please her reeked of weakness, and with Heishin sniffing around he wasn't sure he could afford a crack in his armor like that woman. Picturing her face, pretty more so than beautiful, and her laughably clumsy attempts to get his attention (leaning over a pool table, please) Enishi found he was having a hard time finding fault with seeing her just once more. Maybe the resemblance to his sister was just a product of the liquor and that innocent interaction with him another manipulative illusion.

"We're here, sir." Gein was always more polite when he thought Enishi's mood was unstable. Standing in the cold as if weather couldn't touch him, the brick wall of a man known as Kujiranami was there to walk in with the boss. A woman in an undoubtedly real fur coat stood an arm length's away—Yumi no doubt, he had seen pictures of her in the past.

"Phone Heishin and tell him I expect to see him when negotiations have concluded."

"Yes, sir."

Wasting no time, he stepped out into the freezing temperatures and straightened himself out before walking over. Shishio wasn't a man that was to be kept waiting, even by Enishi.

***

It had been a number of years since he had gone on anything that could be classified as a date. Despite being relatively young to be in charge of his own organization, it had been a goal he pursued ruthlessly and single-mindedly. Not a lot of time or energy had been left for anything as pedestrian as romancing women when, if sex was the goal, that could be procured at a transactional cost much cheaper than the sum total of dinners and other sundry gifts. When he had been in his late teens, up and coming like a superstar of larcenous ability, some of the older set had thought to put their daughters in his path. In a world like his you married your own kind and kept it in the family as much as possible. Those few times he had to take them to dinner and pretend to be interested in whatever their newest expensive acquisition was had seemed such a colossal waste of time that he had only doubled his efforts in being involved with the organization. If you had no time, then you couldn't be asked to set aside any for someone else.

He was telling himself, on the drive over, that this was solely motivated by curiosity. Her requested chocolates sat in the passenger seat, purchased on the way over in a crush of bewildered and worried looking men at the store. They all had a hunted look in their eye, as if the chocolates were the answer to a riddle they desperately needed to solve. It was just empty calories to Enishi, and he wasn't precisely sure why chocolates were the thing to purchase when something like steak would be more expensive and more useful. He shrugged it off as part of the insanity of the day.

Early.

All of that: the indecision, the reservations, the chocolate, the parking… and he was still early. Being nervous for this was unthinkable. He could walk into any situation and command it, and the evening had been engineered to be efficient—pick the girl up, eat a meal, deliver her back home—but radical notions he had absorbed from overhearing frantic men in the chocolate shop played back in his mind. What if she was allergic to the chocolate? What if she didn't like it? What if she was emotionally unstable and he'd have comfort her? He wasn't prepared for that scenario. Enishi liked his world to be predicable, and by extension controllable, but this Kamiya woman was an unknown.

Clearing his throat, Enishi emerged from his car and made his way to the stoop of the small apartment complex she lived in. This was neither a bad nor a good neighborhood, and not one he would have ever visited on his own professionally or personally. Nothing but residences, shops, and restaurants proclaimed this a commuter community to downtown. All you got in this part of town were kids playing at being in a gang and the occasional mugging.

He found her apartment number on the list of buttons and pressed it twice at short intervals. It was possible she wasn't at home. She could, and probably should, regret interacting with him in a seedy bar several days ago. It was fortunate no one in his organization knew where he was or what he was doing because, should she not answer the door, he would have quite a lot of face to save otherwise.

"Hello?" Her voice was a squeak and it could either be the bad connection or her own nerves.

"It's Yukishiro."

"I'll be right down."

While he waited a couple came crashing out the door, laughing and hugging. They stopped short when they saw him, and he had to remind himself not to scowl at people. Tonight that sort of behavior was expected of people. Their laughter resumed once they were well past him and Enishi fought the urge to sigh at all the foolishness he was part of in this moment.

"I didn't really think you'd show up." He looked over as the girl emerged and he mentally compared how different she seemed tonight. Everything about her presentation seemed like an invitation. Those legs, the flare of her hips, the v of her blouse just low enough, and all that hair piled on her head. All he got was a glimpse as she buttoned up her coat. He wanted to tell her to leave her hair loose, the way it had been when he met her, but instead he just nodded in her direction to acknowledge her.

"I parked across the street. Unless you'd rather take a cab." He only suggested the second option because she looked ready to bolt, not that she'd make it far in those shoes.

She hesitated before she answered. "I don't know where we're eating. Would a cab be very expensive?"

"Don't worry about that." The idea of her paying for things rankled with him in such a traditional way he was a little surprised at his own attitude. His sister used to say he needed to be nice to ladies, but he had never felt the pull of that so strongly before.

Pulling out his phone, he almost remembered the chocolate as an afterthought since he needed to free up a hand to dial. He handed it to her, and when she didn't take it immediately he got impatient.

"Well? You asked for chocolate, didn't you?" He tried to keep it emotionless, but he knew some of his exasperation had leaked through.

"Thank you." Her eyes got wide as she accepted the gift and she examined it with pleasure as he talked to the cab company. Before she had seemed a little scared, maybe even closer to terrified, but now she was all smiles and softness as she ran her fingers over the gold stickers that sealed the package shut. Was it that easy?

They stood in the cold near the curb and he watched their breath make white clouds in the frigid air. It might freeze tonight, and with the recent damp weather than meant ice on the roads. Those shoes of hers might not have good traction, he'd keep an eye on her progress. A voice in the back of his head said he could offer her his arm, but he dismissed it as sentimental.

"You look pretty somber."

"What?" He turned to her, seeing a spark of something in her eyes that hadn't been there when he'd greeted her at the door.

"Black shoes, black suit, black shirt… "

He grunted. "Hm. It's what I have. It's either that or an orange track suit."

That gruff response was greeted with an amused smile from the girl. Enishi got the uneasy feeling that she might have the date figured out better than he did, and he didn't like it one bit.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaoru's small black clutch was aptly named as she tried to ease the rigid tension from her hands and failed. In the cab, Enishi set at the opposite window behind the driver seemingly at ease with the world. There was the middle seat between them, but Kaoru felt like that might as well have been no space at all with how claustrophobic her nervousness had made her. The cold sweat born of stress had not begun yet but she could feel it not too far off the horizon if she didn't get ahold of herself. The small box of chocolate was in her coat pocket and pressed against her every time the driver took a turn.

Under her fingers Kaoru felt the constant vibrations as her phone announced text after text from her concerned friends. One buzz for the text, another as a reminder to look at it rocked the phone, making her feel like they were blowing up her phone when really they had probably only sent one or two questions her way each. Since Enishi hadn't drawn out his phone, despite the fact that the ancient car's engine was so loud it precluded conversation, Kaoru decided to hold off as well.

Every day, on her way to the parking garage, Kaoru passed by the upscale downtown shops and restaurants. There were subtle displays, in some cases no display at all, and often people in suits littered throughout every window discussing important matters over expensive meals. Not in a million years would she have guessed they would stop in front of one of these bastions of gastronomical art, but the cab halted and Kaoru spent so long confused as to what was happening that a valet had already opened her door and had time to look confused when she didn't move. Enishi paid for the cab and stepped out, so she followed. Still stunned, she said the only thing that made sense.

"Do we have reservations? I don't think we'll get in without a reservation." _And maybe a bank statement_, was her silent addendum. It was the kind of place that didn't put prices on the menu because if you needed to ask you couldn't afford it.

Enishi snorted in amusement and strode forward, with Kaoru taking almost two steps to his one and cursing her shoes silently every trotting moment. Beauty is pain, Megumi had repeated that every time she convinced Kaoru to get her eyebrows waxed (or other portions of her body best left unmentioned).

The host that greeted him held that twinge of panic in his eyes that Kaoru recognized and filed in the back of her mind as he groveled before Enishi. Yes, their table was ready. Yes, would they follow him this way? Yes, would the gentlemen be needing anything before the meal? Yes, allow him to check the lady's coat. Kaoru sincerely hoped the man would not be attempting to wait on them because he seemed to have the shakes as she handed her coat over and she didn't want him anywhere near a water pitcher.

"Come here often?" Kaoru said as she pulled her own chair out and sat while Enishi watched the host stumble away with a uniquely satisfied expression before seeming to notice her existence again.

"First time for me. But I hear the food is good." For all his height, he never seemed ungainly as he took his seat. The candle between them flickered and cast gentle shadows across his face, and unbidden she wondered if she was dining with the devil tonight.

Overactive imagination, she chided herself. "Do you like trying out food in places like this?"

"You saw the bar I frequent. I'm satisfied so long as the service is attentive and my needs are met." He seemed as at home here as he had in the bar, and Kaoru decided it was probably a confidence thing. Enishi made her think of the finance VP that occasionally took meetings with her boss' boss down in the HR conference rooms. Hajime Saitou had all the polish and cold confidence, but she had never seen him change expression whereas Enishi seemed to have all sorts of emotions playing just below the surface.

"I was just thinking you remind me of one of my company's vice-presidents." Kaoru realized she had just been sitting there staring at him while the waiter, thankfully a different man, had brought water and menus and neatly vanished.

"Should I be flattered?" His eyes flicked over to meet hers before going back to the menu.

Kaoru let her attention waver back and forth from him to the menu. "He's not someone I know well, just impressions really." Lamb sounded good, but the menu was mostly fancy sounding steaks. Not that she was a vegetarian, but this place was practically a carnivorous paradise and the idea of polishing off a huge chunk of meat made her stomach flip.

Putting down the menu entirely and devoting his full attention her way which was unnerving in both its interest and intensity he asked her blandly, "Then what are your impressions of him?"

_How do you see me?_ He wanted to know and she had brought it up. "Well, he's responsible for a lot of people, but he's very good at staying calm and in control. He's got a great memory for details, I mean I'm no one and he used my name when asking me a question once… really impressed me actually. A little scary." Kaoru's voice trailed off at the end and she cleared her throat before taking a sip of water. It tasted like lime.

"In light of that I suppose I don't mind the comparison." Half of his mouth slanted into a smile and Kaoru suppressed the urge to sigh in relief.

_Kenshin never took you to places like this._ Her mind whispered to her with a mix of irritation and wistfulness. The pain was fresh in her mind, making her steel herself and focus on the matter at hand with determination. Definitely the lamb shank.

"See anything you want?" Enishi gave no indication that he meant anything other than her dinner options, but there was a niggling sensation in the back of her mind that with someone like him there was absolutely nothing that easy or direct.

***

And he thought he would be bored. She was much more nervous around him now, but there was none of the outright fear that would have made her insipid. Conversation had slid into work naturally once salads arrived, and it was rather funny to watch her squirm as she obviously wanted to ask him questions but wasn't sure how to phrase them.

"Are you fond of the work you do?" Kaoru's cheeks colored attractively, and he allowed her to keep assuming the worst since she must have guessed that his day job wasn't something strictly legitimate.

Stabbing a cherry tomato with his fork, he considered just laying it all out to see how she'd react. It would have been out of character for him, that kind of honesty, but there was something so pure about her and he wanted to see how she reacted to world slightly more complex than her own.

"It's what I wanted, so I can't complain. The perks of being in management, so to speak, are material." He gestured at their surroundings and she gave a rueful smile.

"You never thought about being something else? I know my dad was always disappointed I didn't take over the family business. But there's not a lot of money in martial arts instruction." Immediately Enishi found himself evaluating her as a fighter: lean, not enough muscle to pose much of a threat from a raw power perspective, but if she had good speed it might balance out and give her enough leverage in a fight to be considered seriously. The competitor in him immediately wanted to fight her and see how strong she was, but something in the back of his mind whispered that if he got her close enough to grapple he would lose interest in fighting per se…

"How long did you train?"

Kaoru sighed, blowing loose strands of hair around her face. He wished again she had left it down. "What felt like my whole life, but I guess I pretty much stopped in college. I would work at the dojo in the summers, and once in a while I would do part time work around town as an instructor, but life got busy and I found I was doing it less and less."

When was the last time he had properly trained? He kept in shape, but it had been a year or two since anyone had the nerve to spar with him. Enishi had broken the arm of the last guy who thought he might show the boss a thing or two in practice, and since then he hadn't been very challenged. With Heishin breathing down his neck maybe some demonstrations should be in order to remind his men he was still strong. Tuning back into Kaoru, he found she had been talking about her family while he had been contemplating a show of force.

"I never thought a house could be filled with so much stuff, but the dojo was way worse. I still miss my dad." The remains of their salads were cleared away and Kaoru said the one thing he had hoped to avoid. "What's your family like?"

"I don't have a family." He rushed the words, making them too severe. The look of pity that flashed across her face annoyed him, and he found he wanted to elaborate. "My only family died when I was young."

"That sounds lonely." She didn't look at him, but off to the side. Enishi wanted to react to her but it seemed like she might not even be talking about him. Dredging his mind for details he recalled she had just said her father died when she was in her late teens. Loneliness hadn't occurred to him as an option for years, but maybe he'd find traces of it if he allowed himself the time to examine his inner life. Having a deep sense of mortality or philosophy hadn't been compatible with his life choices until this moment.

"I think loneliness is a choice." Was all he landed on, but it didn't seem satisfactory.

Oddly, his words sent his dining companion from sad introspection to a beaming smile directed at him. Not for the first time that night he was reminded that, as a heterosexual male, she was doing funny things to his capacity to reason. He wanted to please her and distract her, but he also wanted her undivided attention. When the waiter brought their food to the table at that moment, and she turned her smile away towards her food, he allowed himself to shoot a look so venomous at the man that they were not interrupted for the rest of the evening even as their water glasses ran dry.

***

Kaoru had, all things considered, had one of the best dates ever since she had started going on them. The whole evening had been so smooth and pleasant, it was surreal. Barely a hair on her head was out of place, and all she could think of was how tasty the food had been and how they hadn't seemed to have lulls in the conversation. Even if she couldn't tell you what he did, specifically, or what his family was like, even in broad terms, she could tell you quite a bit about the man walking her back to her apartment's entrance:

He didn't like sweets. (He'd declined any desserts.)

He insisted that things be done thoroughly. (Despite not wanting any, he insisted on a dessert tray being presented to her, even if she was full.)

He was casually wasteful. (Lots of leftovers on his plate had gone straight to the garbage.)

His attention to detail was astonishing. (The nervous waiter had initially brought her the wrong coat, but it was so similar even Kaoru hadn't noticed before Enishi had noticed.)

He was nicer than he himself knew. (While he had scoffed at the idea that he was acting like a gentleman, when Kaoru had brought it up, he had completely acted the part this evening. He even made sure he was walking on the street side of the sidewalk as they neared her apartment.)

Having made sure to "powder her nose" and answer the volumes of text messages that her friends had sent her throughout the evening all in one go, Kaoru was reasonably certain that she had dodged a bullet with this whole dinner with a stranger business. Enishi could have been a scoundrel, but if no one had told her otherwise, she would have assumed him upper management in any of the companies around the city. The idea that he was a gangster in any sense almost seemed preposterous. With thoughts like that spinning around in her head, it seemed a lot less ridiculous that she was delightfully nervous about whether or not he would kiss her goodnight. Kaoru put one hand on the box of chocolates in her pocket and tried to decide if she wanted that, and as she snuck a peek at him through her lashes she was struck again by his good looks and strong presence. Three buildings away from her own, he grasped her hands tightly and suddenly faced her while Kaoru tried to catch the breath that had gone wooshing out when he moved her in.

The shift in momentum caused Kaoru to stumble a bit in her heels, but he caught her fall neatly so she could steady herself again. It was the first time they had touched, and she immediately noted callouses on his hands and how he seemed to radiate heat. All the complex thoughts of how soon was too soon, and how her slowly seeping feelings for Kenshin made it hard to know what she wanted were swept away. He pulled her up against the length of his body and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"No police."

Enishi pushed Kaoru away, and normally that would not have been enough to unbalance her, but with the dumb heels and the constricting coat Kaoru only managed a couple steps before landing on her rump in the small alley between two buildings. Before the "HEY" could even escape her lips, she turned angry eyes Enishi's direction only to see him locked in a deadly embrace with a man who clearly meant murder with the knife he clutched.

They broke apart and Enishi hissed something between his teeth which the other man laughed at ruefully before lunging at him with a yell. Kaoru had to tear her eyes away for a moment so she could climb to her feet again, and suppressed the urge to pull out her phone and call for help. No police, he had said and there was too much adrenaline in her veins to question it.

All she could see was a dumpster and a bunch of soggy cardboard in the alleyway, so nothing helpful there. Nearly afraid of what she'd see, as the scuffle continued mere feet from her, Kaoru looked over to find Enishi and the man with the knife still leading one another on a merry dance. It only took a moment for their eyes to meet, Kaoru's frantic and Enishi's coolly assessing, but Enishi seemed to come to some sort of decision and blocked the slashing knife with a forearm while decking the man so hard with his other fist that when he crumpled Kaoru was afraid Enishi had killed him in front of her.

"Oh my GOD!" Kaoru rushed over, now that the other man was down, and she saw that he was still breathing.

Taking controlled breaths, Enishi looked at her almost scornfully. "You said you took martial arts, surely you're not this surprised to see a fight." He seemed angry, but Kaoru didn't mind that, he had a right to be angry when a random person almost jumped them. Assuming it was random, which she couldn't even say for certain.

"Not that, your arm!" The knife he had blocked was still lodged in the side of his forearm, below the elbow. Seeing it for what might be the first time, Enishi then grabbed the handle and yanked it out of his flesh with a grunt and slipped it into his pocket once he closed the blade. Immediately, the cloth around the wound seemed to turn wet looking. Sirens in the distance finally broke through Kaoru's shock.

"I said no police!"

"I didn't call them!" Kaoru's eyes darted around, and a couple across the way looked like they were about to come over and inquire if they were ok when she grabbed Enishi by his non-injured arm and pulled him resolutely towards her apartment building. At first he dragged his feet, but she whirled on him and practically growled. "Well, are you going to stay here and give your statement to the cops, or are you coming with me?"

Wide-eyed, he finally picked up the pace. Kaoru could already feel her rump hurting from her hard landing in the alley, and she waved and called out to the concerned couple that they were just fine even as she launched them around the corner towards the back entrance of her building.

"I just want you to know, that if this wasn't an emergency I wouldn't be inviting you in. I'm not that kind of girl." Kaoru grit out as she quickly punched in the security code to the door.

And she still couldn't even say that this was the _worst_ date she had ever been on.


	4. Chapter 4

The Kamiya woman was overacting, but Enishi found that he wanted to be fussed over a little so let her turn into a worried whirlwind. Her worry and stress had her red faced and sweating, so much that she pulled her hair down as she marched up towards her apartment, much to Enishi's pleasure. All that fine dark hair swirling around her made him think about the first time he had laid eyes on her, looking helpless and angelic.

"Move faster, damn it! I need to do something about that arm!" Clearly, it had been a bit of an illusion, but he found himself enjoying this as well. He knew he didn't have a thing for bossy women, having encountered enough of those among his fellow tong members, but this woman ordering him around had some appeal to it.

The stab wound smarted, surely, but he had braced for it by hardening his muscles and it hadn't penetrated nearly as deeply as she seemed to think. She fumbled with her keys, dropping them and cursing before finally throwing the door open and pushing him I ahead of her. The first thing Kaoru did upon entering was kick off each of her heels with a motion that sent them careening through the room like throwing stars. When she finally closed the door and looked up at him, he was struck by how small she seemed now.

"Sit!" Stripping him of his jacket she swiftly backed him up onto a couch in her living room. "I can't do anything if you need stitches, but I can get it cleaned and disinfected, so hold on."

She jetted off to what he assumed was her bathroom and he was left to contemplate her living space. If Kaoru's appearance was well put together, it certainly didn't mirror her apartment. Clothes were draped over most spaces, and there was a towel behind him on the couch itself. Empty water glasses littered her coffee table next to magazines on fitness with the odd one on fashion thrown in. The kitchenette had the empty look that happened when someone didn't cook often, and he thought how they at least shared that. Bookshelves contained no books, but many framed photos of smiling people with Kaoru at various ages and doing various activities.

There was no trash, and it smelled pleasantly of jasmine potpourri, but he was struck by an overwhelming sense of clutter. His own living space was monk-like in comparison. If he was going to be fairly honest, other than the violence and the drinking, his life was monk-like in truth. Enishi snorted derisively at himself. In his world where big personalities and lavish living was the norm, his understated lifestyle seemed nearly insane to the people around him.

When Kaoru burst back into the room Enishi knew he had a conundrum to puzzle through. Her loose hair swirled around her as she strode forward, one hand full of medical supplies, the other venting the purple blouse that now had the top two buttons undone. She was worrying at her lips a little, making them moist and full, while her flushed cheeks only emphasized a look that under different circumstances would probably have been described as erotic. As she demanded him to roll up his sleeve, he automatically began rolling up the wrong one before he remembered himself. She pulled him forward into a hunch and brushed aside water glasses from the coffee table as she used the surface as a staging area. A steady torrent of angry words directed at their attacker, him, and herself continued to distract him as Enishi made absolutely no effort to resist looking down her gaping blouse.

"…and of all the stupid things that could happen on Valentine's Day I can't believe I'm here cleaning a stab wound and I don't even know you! What am I thinking? My friends told me nothing good could come of meeting a stranger but did I listen? No! Why would I listen to them making sense when I'm too pig-headed to think that my intuition might be wrong. As soon as I think I meet someone noble, no matter what the circumstances and evidence say, then I find myself in this kind of situation. Just like Yahiko and the loan shark. Or Sano and his gambling debts. Then there was Aoshi and Misao and Soujiro and I am such a sucker!"

Kaoru punctuated every mumbled self-recrimination with a little kick at the leg of the table, shaking it while she was cleaning his wound and dabbing anti-bacterial cream with a cotton swab around the edges. It was narrow but deep, and still oozing blood as she taped a bandage over it.

"That should keep you until you get to a hospital, or whatever else you had planned." She glanced out the window where the flashing red and blue lights still reflected the presence of police and an ambulance. "You can sit here for a little bit, if you don't want to chance going out right now. Would you like some water, or tea?"

All at once she seemed to realize the state of her apartment because he saw her gather up all the glasses on the table at once and hugged them to her, as if she could absorb them into her body and out of sight.

"I'll have some tea."

Considering the original plan was to leave her on her doorstep and never think of her again, Enishi had a sinking feeling like they had passed the point where he could forget about her. He couldn't say if he was displeased about that or not, but his inconveniently awakened hormones were proclaiming it the best news since the old tong boss' heart attack.

***

Idiot! Even as she knew it was a bad idea, Kaoru couldn't help herself but bring him to her home. He was injured, he needed help, and Kaoru couldn't resist playing fix-it when people were in trouble. As much as she scolded herself, her soft heart, and her good intentions she didn't really feel any alarm because she had never truly had a situation go bad on her. Yahiko was successfully finishing college, Sano was (nearly) out of debt, Aoshi had moved out of his dysfunctional family situation, and Misao and Soujirou were nesting in their newly painted fixer-upper in the nearby suburbs. Everyone was leading a good life, and she had stayed friends with all of them when they had originally started out as hard luck cases that filtered in and out of her life.

Enishi was different.

Kaoru couldn't put her finger on it, but Enishi was different. He didn't seem like a down on his luck teddy bear, like Sano, or an ice prince with a heart of gold, like Aoshi. Nothing about him spoke to any vulnerability. Even stabbed, he was nonchalant about seeking medical attention (she would have rushed out and gotten a tetanus shot immediately) and if anything seemed more dangerous than when she had first met him. He was the kind of person unsurprised at getting jumped on a dark street. He was the kind of person who would take calculated risks, even when it caused him injury. Worst of all he was the kind of person who would watch her with bedroom eyes while she wiped blood off of him.

As she put the electric kettle on and got out a couple of mugs, Kaoru reflected on what she knew of Soujirou. The smiling young man who had extracted himself from Enishi's world had always been remarkably silent on the particulars of his life before he met Misao. The only clue he had provided Kaoru was a comment he had made that in those days there was no such thing as relaxing, and trust was priceless currency.

Did Enishi coming up here with her count as trust? Did that worry her?

"I hope you're ok with jasmine! It's all I have at the moment." Bags, not loose leaf, her dad would have been so disappointed in her hostess skills. There were soda crackers in the cupboard but nothing to put on them, and she didn't have any cookies or cakes to offer. Belatedly she thought about the chocolate still in her coat, but her uncomfortable landing made her reasonably sure it was a squished mass she'd have to take to a dry cleaner at some point soon.

Kaoru deposited the glasses in the sink and bemoaned both the state of her apartment and the fact that he was here at all when that hadn't been the plan. As he casually flipped through one of her fitness magazines, shirt sleeves rolled up, foot propped casually on one knee, she wondered what he thought of her. Did she seem the like hot mess she felt like she was right now? Glancing down she grimaced and re-buttoned the top of her blouse. At the time it had seemed so natural, but that at least explained how very intent he had seemed when she was fixing him up. Combing a hand through her loose hair, Kaoru wished she could siphon off some of Megumi's poise or Tai's calm. Pouring water into the mugs she realized she'd just have to make do.

"I have some soda crackers, but since we just ate I figured you wouldn't be interested."

Kaoru sat rather primly on the edge of the sofa, knees clamped together so tightly she could have held up a penny without worry. Her temper flared as Enishi took up more room by draping his arm casually across the back of the couch and made inscrutable eye contact with her as he sipped his hot tea.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"Only when you bug me about it."

"Well excuse me for being concerned!" He snorted and took another sip of tea, which led her to believe he was teasing her. "Oh very funny. I see it takes getting stabbed to make you tell a joke tonight."

Eyebrows shooting up, he remarked, "Humor is a tool that people use to put others at ease. I see my efforts weren't successful."

"You make telling jokes sound downright dreary."

"Normally I don't feel any obligation to make other people feel at ease around me." Quickly he took another drink, as if to keep his mouth shut. From the tightness of his lips Kaoru figured he had just admitted to something he wouldn't normally. Maybe that straightforward charm her friends claimed she had worked on someone like Enishi as well.

"You do seem like the kind of guy who was an adult before he even had a chance to be a kid."

"That's not inaccurate."

Despite herself, Kaoru felt her hard edges melting. Imagining him as a little kid was getting her insides to go all soft and wobbly. What she needed to focus on was the bruise on her rump and the bloody cotton swabs in her garbage, but Kaoru had a hard time when the picture she began to put together was so compelling of his probably unhappy childhood.

"So what did you play as a kid? I'm trying to picture you… were you scrawny or chubby?"

"I suppose I played whatever other kids played at the time. I was very scrawny. My sister was always trying to get me to eat more."

He had softened on mentioning his sister, but then his mask came down even harder. It must be difficult for him to remember his family and she tried to be more sensitive. "Well, you certainly improved your appetite. You nearly ate that whole steak, and that was more meat than I had seen in one place in years."

"Sustaining my current level of fitness has high caloric and protein requirements."

"I remember, from when I used to train all the time, but you make food sound dreary too. Is there anything that you get excited about?"

He was really thinking about it, Kaoru realized with a start, when he went almost entirely still. Closing his eyes slowly, it was like waiting for a high powered computer to process a complicated request. Absently, he popped his knuckles one at a time, until eventually he seemed to come back to reality.

"A good fight, a good drink, and beyond that I'm getting a glimmer but nothing we need to talk about." His eyes ate her up, and she could feel a traitorous blush flush her from her cheeks on down. He really said things that shouldn't be as shocking as she was taking them. Maybe he hadn't meant anything about her. She wasn't entirely sure, already.

The flashing lights outside faded and as soon as they both noticed, Enishi stood up and grabbed his coat off her chair.

"The tea was good, I'll be going now."

Kaoru wanted to protest but she couldn't think of a single reason to ask him to stay that didn't paint things in an awkwardly sexual light. "I hope you'll get some attention for that arm. Will you be in danger going home?"

"No more than usual."

She followed him to her door as he gingerly rolled down his sleeves and pulled on his jacket.

"Take care, Kamiya, you weren't the target and it's unlikely anyone from my world will cross your path again unless you seek them out." With a slight grimace he added. "You did me a favor tonight bringing me in here, I won't forget that."

"Don't worry about it; I'm glad it turned out ok in the end." He was about to leave and Kaoru thought to herself momentarily if, after all this, she would have any regrets. Quickly, she came to the conclusion that if she was going to take chances she might as well take the biggest one of all.

Grabbing him by the lapels, Kaoru had to bridge quite a distance between them now that she was no longer in heels. When she slanted her mouth up to meet his, she found that his lips were just as soft as she had hoped. What started as chaste became somewhat scandalous as they stood in her open doorway and he slid his tongue into her mouth while his uninjured arm wound around her body tightly. They both tasted of jasmine and Kaoru reveled in the feel of being surrounded by masculinity and desire. Once they finally separated, Kaoru forced herself to take calming breaths while Enishi readjusted his glasses on his face. He swallowed audibly before allowing a smile to touch the corner of his mouth.

"I won't forget that either."

As Kaoru closed the door on his retreating form, she found herself leaning against it and sighing. If nothing else had been resolved at the very least she now knew there would be life after Kenshin. Taking her crushed chocolate out of her jacket pocket, she turned on her television and salvaged what she could of the sticky mess. It had been a good Valentine's Day.


End file.
